Oriental Brewery increases beer prices as expenses escalate

Cass, one of Oriental Brewery's products. [ORIENTAL BREWERY]

The factory prices of Oriental Brewery's (OB) beer products will increase by up to 6.9 percent from next Wednesday, the company announced on Wednesday.

The company said the hike is caused by the lift in raw material costs and surging logistical expenses from rising global oil prices.

“After the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost pressure has kept on increasing,” said OB Beer. “We kept the increase rate to a minimum, given the ongoing price instabilities."

However, it decided not to change the price of the canned Cass 500-milliliter product, the most sold item for households, to minimize the financial burden on consumers.

HiteJinro and Lotte Chilsung Beverage said that they have no specific plans to raise prices for the time being even though factors driving up the prices exist.

BY KIM JI-HYE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]